: Okay, you make some good points, I'm dropping my theory.
: Here's my new one: When Balor incinerated the city,
: the emperor and his chosen heron guard got to a bunker
: somewhere (like Churchill during the blitz) and didn't
: get crisped. They attempted to make a final stand so
: Balor sent in a bunch of Trow commandos, who stormed
: the bunker, mostly ignored the heron guard, and kicked
: the crown right off the emperor's head (I just like
: saying that). The heron guard in the bunker, having
: now really, really failed, grabbed some tiles then
: buried the emperor's body in an unmarked grave (so it
: wouldn't get eaten) and then split as fast as they
: could. They then travelled to the West and presented
: themselves for judgment to the Nine. Along the way
: they gathered up what was left of the hundred and
: convinced them to take up tiles of their own. I'm
: thinking this because somebody had to grab those
: tiles--and as far as we know no light force went back
: to Muirthemne until M2.
: I won't even say I'm sticking to this one. Tell me why it
: wouldn't work.
Lessee...there's no inconsistencies per se, but it doesn't jibe with the facts. First, the Trow weren't used against the Light until near the end of the Great War. Second, there's a picture of Balor himself standing over the dead, bloody but mostly intact Emperor and looking very annoyedly at the fake crown. Third, one of the flavor texts says, "Returning to the ruin Llancarfan had become in their absence, the emepror's deathless Heron Guards each tore nine gold tiles..." so apparently they did come back.
I think the simplest explanation is: Balor showed up, nuked the city, finished off the survivors, and left; then the absent Heron Guards showed up, suffered a combo of semi-legitimate shame (no matter what the circumstances, your emperor isn't supposed to die in battle before you do) and survivor's guilt, grabbed the gold tiles and went off as Jmen.
: Hey, I have another question, now. The hero of my
: campaign (sort of a would-be avatara--maybe even the
: jman who's there when the head is brought in during
: the intro to MTFL) is a guy named Eight Coyote Comet.
: Okay, the eight part might have to go. The rest of his
: name means he was initiated in the month Coyote of the
: Comet Year, i.e., the year Connacht put the Myrks in
: the tain. This would make him a thousand years old,
: yes? And therefore one badass jman. Basically, he has
: a mass healing attack and a shovel swing that does as
: much damage as a dwarf bottle going off in your face.
: Questions: a) is this possible, giving what we know?
: (that is, could a heron guard have survived that long)
: b) is that shovel swing too powerful?
a) sure, as far as we know there's no upper limit on a Heron's longevity. And according to GURPS the order "traditionally exhibited very little turnover," meaning that prior to Balor's coming Herons very rarely died in battle. Quite a few of the surviving hundred Herons are probably over a thousand years old--they were a veterans' detachment, after all.
b) That's a pretty nasty shovel there. I'd *suggest* (hefts Trademarked Weapon™ meaningfully) you make the damage high but not *that* high, and raise all his other stats to make him all-around exceptional? Boost his attack speed and turning rate, make him not flinch at anything less than a Dorf cocktail, maybe even speed up his attack and healing animations in Amber. All-arounders are both more plausible and IMHHO more heroic-feeling than guys with one incredible stat. But I'm sure you'll try out many different versions and go with the one that works the best (insert obsene joke here).
--SiliconDream
